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From: Jukebox music rocks To promote their recently released live CD and DVD from their Japan/Australia tour last year, KISS /Alice Cooper drummer ERIC SINGER brought his all-star covers band to Europe for the first time since May 2005. Original members BRUCE KULICK (guitar, ex- KISS /Grand Funk Railroad) and John Corabi (vocals/guitar, ex-Mötley Crüe) and bassist Chuck Garric (Alice Cooper/Ex-Slash’s Snakepit) were last here in November 2005 as Union featuring Cinderella drummer Fred Coury. Slightly out-of-place Swiss openers Ever Since, supporting their new album Between Heaven And Hell, played a strong, and very heavy set to a receptive crowd (surprisingly large, for a support band) who clearly didn’t know any of the songs, but enjoyed it all the same. Ever Since mix industrial sounds with heavy guitars and a triple-vocal approach from man-mountain guitarist Stéphane (extreme vocals), petite singer Ludivine (female vocals) and keyboard player JP (clean vocals) and, men in the front row enjoying the visual attraction of Ludivine aside, I think this unique approach to the delivery of the songs is what peaked the interest of much of the crowd. The album bears investigating (look for a review soon). As is often the case with any ESP/Union show, the setlist relied heavily on KISS songs. The bands always play a selection of songs by the current or former full-time employers, but in recent years, particularly with the addition of Chuck Garric, more KISS tracks have found their way into the set. On this particular night the full repertoire of KISS numbers was raided, producing no less than eight songs in a set of 19. While they play these songs absolutely perfectly, better, some would say, than the current real deal, it does make the set somewhat one-sided in its composition. Of course, as with Union, only the coolest KISS songs are selected, and the irresistible riffs of Unholy, Domino and Jungle, played by the lead guitarist that made them in the first place, produce ecstatic cheers from a KISS-starved audience (the band themselves have not been to England for six years and counting) alongside ’70s period classics like Black Diamond and Nothin’ To Lose. Apart from Jungle (John Corabi) and Nothin’ To Lose (ERIC SINGER), all the tracks selected were originally sung by GENE SIMMONS, and are mimicked perfectly by Garric. Before Domino Corabi related the story of his discovery that his wife was a prostitute, and responded to jibes from Garric with "why don’t you tell us about your predicament" - a seamless segue. The undoubted highlight for Corabi fans came right after an amazing version of Deep Purple’s Maybe I’m A Leo when Garric and Singer left the stage to leave Kulick and Corabi to play through a spirited guitar and vocal medley of Man In The Moon, a classic song from Corabi’s first signed band The Scream, and I Wanna Be from Union’s second album. It was mildly disappointing that I seemed to be the only person other than Corabi in the room who knew the words to both songs, but that didn’t stop the moment ranking as one of the best of the evening. The rest of the set was a stroll through the very best in classic rock. Led Zeppelin’s Dancing Days was greeted with less enthusiasm than some others (it’s not the most famous Zep track, most people probably didn’t know it) but big hits like Alice Cooper’s School’s Out, Black Sabbath’s Sweet Leaf, Humble Pie’s Four Day Creep and Queen’s Tie Your Mother Down were rapturously received alongside just one Union track (Love (I Don’t Need It Anymore), an ever-present from Corabi’s Crüe days Power To The Music and Grand Funk Railroad’s We’re An American Band to close. Only one notable absence (Union’s Do Your Own Thing) meant a very strong set, which can be experienced on the new live CD ESP Live In Japan and DVD ESP Live At The Marquee, including some extra tracks like Jump The Shark (DVD), an instrumental from Kulick’s Transformer album, Free Ride by Edgar Winter Group (DVD) and The Beatles‘ Oh Darling (CD - thankfully absent from the London show). Nobody, including the original bands, currently does these songs better than ESP, and they are clearly enjoying the continued chance to play them (Corabi in particular seeming much more cheerful this time than when Union played Dingwalls in 2005). An evening of classic rock gems like this is essential for any rock fan. " very best in classic rock " Setlist: Four Day Creep / Watchin’ You / Love (I Don’t Need It Anymore) / Unholy / School’s Out / Sweet Leaf / Jungle / Domino / Dancing Days / Nothin’ To Lose / War Machine / Maybe I’m A Leo / Man In The Moon I Wanna Be / Power To The Music / I Love It Loud // Black Diamond / Drums / Tie Your Mother Down / We’re An American Band |
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